Greek Fire
by pamlin
Summary: The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece... where antiquities thieves run rampant, and our heroes are excavating an ancient shipwreck. Surely this can't be a recipe for disaster? The usual disclaimer applies: the characters aren't mine, and I'm not making any money. Just having fun. Enjoy the story!
1. Chapter 1

Greek Fire

_Ghosts and ruins… There was a time – millennia ago – when tiny Sarpolis was the Island of the Gods. Studded with temples no more than a stone's throw from each other, the island came alive during the festival season. Gaily bedecked boats ferried priests and celebrants out to the island. The temples glittered in the sun, and shone at night with the light of myriad lanterns. Worshippers wound their way from temple to temple, and excitement flared in the air. Offerings adorned the altars and priests led sacred and secret rituals._

Commander Lee Crane, captain of the submarine Seaview, shook his head at the faintly purple prose of the guidebook. The dramatic description of long ago festivals didn't exactly match the deserted, crumbling ruins that met his eyes now. He sighed and continued reading.

_The rest of the year, Sarpolis was quiet, tended only by a priestly caretaker who watched over the sacred temples. He kept them in good order, and in return, the citizens of the Republic took care of him. Sarpolis was revered and holy; only the caretaker dwelt on its sacred soil._

Probably because there wasn't room for anyone else. The island was tiny, encompassing only a few square miles. The ruins lay everywhere he looked, so close to each other that it was difficult to separate the remains of one temple from another. Lee had to wonder where there would have been room for a caretaker's humble abode.

_But then the city-states fell to the Romans, and Sarpolis was forgotten. The caretaker left the island. One by one the temples crumbled to ruin. Tiny and barren, Sarpolis had nothing to offer. She became the province of ghosts and ruins._

Lee snapped the guidebook shut. Honestly, where did publishers dig up the people that wrote these things? He swept the crown of the island with an appraising gaze and grimaced. "Well, they weren't kidding, were they?"

Lieutenant Commander Chip Morton, his friend and XO, shot him a questioning glance, but didn't say anything. Lee shrugged and stuffed the guidebook in his pocket. "Ghosts and ruins. And there is something creepy about this place." The marble that had weathered and discolored over a thousand years or more; the snaky cracks running through columns and pediments, the decay of centuries, and the vines and weeds growing up where the temple floors had once been. These ruins could definitely attract ghosts… If there were such things.

Chip arched a skeptical eyebrow at him; but then the XO didn't have a romantic bone in his body. He was strictly down-to-earth and by the book. "It's called an air of mystery. Or a sense of history. Whichever you prefer." A vague hint of derision lingered under the words. Nope, not a romantic, at all.

Lee shook his head with a smile. The ruins were impressive in their ubiquity. The island was about the size of a postage stamp, but almost every square inch of land was packed with the crumbling remains of temples. The sparkling crescent of beach where the ferry had landed them lay at the foot of the thirty or more stone steps they'd just climbed to get here. Fortunately, they were both in good shape, and apparently the only other two ferry passengers were too. Despite the multitude of ancient ruins, Sarpolis evidently didn't bring in a lot of tourist dollars.

Chip abandoned Lee to check out a set of columns that jutted into the sky, the sole, stark remainder of a building that must have once been pretty impressive. Lee watched him go, forcing down his own boredom. For all his skepticism and practicality, Chip was the real history buff, here. When Admiral Nelson had insisted they both take a few hours shore leave – something neither of them was keen to do when Seaview was on a mission – Lee had let Chip plan their day's itinerary, hence the reason they'd ended up on Sarpolis. Clearly no real night life to be found here…

The XO prowled around the columns, politely pointing out something here and there to one of the other ferry passengers who had followed him. Chip carried no guidebook. He had no real need of one; not only did he read and speak Greek fluently, but he was completely steeped in the history of both ancient Greece and Byzantine Greece. He could undoubtedly tell Lee everything there was to know about those three lonely columns joined together by a crumbling pediment.

Problem was, Lee was no real fan of history. Yes, he considered history an important study. How else could he learn from past mistakes? But he didn't really care about the history of Greece beyond the essentials. What difference did it make which mythical gods all these desolate ruins had belonged to? He just wanted to explore modern day Corfu and get in some pub-crawling before they had to return to Seaview.

But then, he'd had his fill of ancient ruins already on this cruise. For a rare change from marine biology, Admiral Nelson had turned to marine archaeology. A permit to dive on an ancient wreck off the Greek island of Corfu had been secured, to the delight of the Institute's lone marine archaeologist, Dr. Martin Ramirez. After the first day of diving, however, Lee had been bored to the point of screaming. He gave his place to Chip, expecting the XO to be bored as well. Instead, Chip's careful suggestions and clear though quiet enthusiasm for the ancient wreck had whipped up Dr. Ramirez's excitement to fever pitch. Finally, a man who appreciated the elegant and simple beauty of ancient history…

In fact, that quiet enthusiasm for a long sunken ship was the real reason that Lee had agreed to death by ruin hopping, instead of insisting on his own agenda. Chip would have given place if Lee had insisted, amenable to changing plans, without ever showing his disappointment, but Lee had seldom seen his XO so engaged in anything… on shore leave, on a cruise… Ever. He held his emotions in check, tidily tucked away behind an impenetrable mask of calm, and very rarely did he allow anything to break through that mask. Numbers and technology could do it; ancient history apparently could as well. Chip was amiable and easy-going, giving way to his superiors both on board and ashore more often than not, unless it was a question of the safety and well-being of the boat and the men. Other than that, he exhibited a willingness to follow orders and fade into the background. He hated to have a fuss made over him or to be the center of attention. But Lee had dedicated himself to drawing the man out from behind that façade. Ruins were one way to do it, so they would look at ruins.

He had to smile as his XO moved on to another group of columns, followed again by one of the men who had come over on the ferry with them. Obviously the man had found a more-than-adequate tour guide and latched onto him. Lee glanced at his watch. Fourteen hundred hours… The sun-drenched landscape was definitely a plus, even if it was dominated by the ominous, moss-encrusted ruins. He strolled over to the three columns and tried to see what Chip apparently saw in them. Was it the majestic temple long gone, or the stark simple beauty of the columns themselves? They were beautiful… The gleaming marble, discolored by centuries of weather and neglect carried an air of dignity, despite the decay. The fine cracks created arabesques and French curves like cobweb tracery over the yellowed surface. The hand of a master stone cutter was obvious in the smooth, curved surfaces. Difficult work all those centuries ago, yet the master's hand had done well, carving with sure, steady fingers. A hundred columns like these grouped together to uphold the roof of the temple would be impressive indeed…

He sighed and turned toward the next groups of columns, carved to look like stately, Junoesque women. Chip had called them _the finest caryatids in the Greek isles._ Lee had no idea whether they actually were the finest or indeed just how many caryatids there might be in the Greek isles, but Chip probably knew.

Stern-faced and matronly they stared across the centuries with a somber gaze, as if the neglect and decay they saw around them spurred deep and silent thought. Their ample curves were swathed in drapery that seemed to flow like real cloth. Their faces had begun to crumble; here a nose had broken away, there an ear had chipped. Several of the elaborate hairstyles had been damaged. And yet the combined impact of their stony stares was oddly compelling.

Lee had to smile at that. Perhaps Chip's enthusiasm had worn off on him after all. He had to stifle the impulse to reach out and touch, to trace the lines of a caryatid's face, as if by touching he could reach across the centuries.

Not everyone resisted the urge to touch, though. Lee frowned as the man shadowing Chip stooped to pick up a large chunk of marble. Collecting souvenirs was frowned on, according to the guidebook. So what did the guy want with a piece of marble as large as his hand?

The captain felt rather than heard the second ferry passenger rush up behind him at the same moment that Chip turned toward him and shouted a warning. Lee ducked to one side, thrusting out a leg as the guy's speed carried him forward. The assailant crashed to the ground and Lee sat on his legs. A savage pull on one arm, pushing it up behind the man until he groaned with pain was all it took to incapacitate him.

The gunshots jerked Lee's head up in surprise and dismay. Chip had taken shelter behind a column, but he was pinned there by the gunfire with no way to shift to the attack. Lee pushed back and up, dragging his captive with him as a shield, and yelled, "Hey!"

The gunman's attention strayed to Lee, noting his partner's predicament. He snarled and raised the gun, but with no way to hit Lee without hitting his buddy, he was stymied and the gun was useless. "Let him go."

Lee didn't dignify the ridiculous demand with an answer. Instead, he edged toward the steps, keeping his human shield in place. The gunman's body turned to follow him. Lee refused to look at Chip, knowing he would take the first opportunity to move. He reached the top of the steps and glanced down toward the beach. The ferry wasn't due again for another two hours, but these men must have had an escape route planned. Where would they have hidden the boat?

He almost missed Chip's attack. The XO had shifted behind the gunman and now moved quickly and silently, seizing the man from behind in a sleeper hold. Within seconds the man went limp, and Chip wrenched the gun from his hand and stumbled across the ground toward Lee. As he drew closer, Lee saw the blood trickling down the side of his face. "Did he hit you?" he called out, busily rewriting his plan of escape to include an injured XO.

Chip shook his head in denial, but the glare he sent Lee's way was icy indeed. "He hit me, but not with a bullet. With a huge chunk of marble. I think it surprised him when I got back up."

Lee shoved his captive back down on the ground as Chip pulled his belt off, one-handed. "I saw that chunk of marble. **_I'm_** surprised you got back up!" He took the offered belt and cinched the assailant's hands together behind him, leaving him face-down on the ground, and going back to the gunman. Pulling off his own belt, he tied that man up as well. "They probably have a boat down on the beach somewhere. Safe bet they had an escape route planned."

Chip frowned at him, as usual coming at the problem from a different angle. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about what they wanted with you?"

Lee shook his head. What they wanted didn't matter, and he wasn't sure it was necessarily him they were after. "Doesn't matter. They didn't get either of us."

"They weren't after me. Or at least they didn't care if they killed me. No one was shooting at you." Chip started down the steps to the beach, and Lee hurried to catch up with him. "In fact, even after you distracted him from me, he was strangely reluctant to shoot at you."

"I was using his buddy as a shield." Lee pointed the fact out, even though he knew it didn't really carry any weight.

"There's no honor among thieves." Chip had no qualms about making the obvious point. "If he'd wanted to kill you, his partner's inevitable demise wouldn't have bothered him much, I suspect. No, I'm pretty sure they were after you." Arriving at the bottom, he looked around. "Not very many places to hide a boat." He started toward a stretch of vegetation right up against the rocks and swayed.

Lee caught his arm to steady him. "Whoa. Maybe you'd better sit down." Now that he could see it more clearly, the captain did not like the look of the jagged cut across his XO's forehead. "You probably have a concussion, you know."

Chip willingly sat on the steps and touched the wound with his fingers. "Ouch… Don't tell Will."

Lee rolled his eyes at that, and moved off to search the beach. The scraggly bushes up against the rocks were the best bet, but there was nothing there. He raked the beach with a glare, looking for anywhere else a boat could be hidden, but found nothing. Still, he poked around in the rocks for a bit before giving up and sitting down beside his friend. "Maybe they didn't have an escape route planned. Of course, that would make them pretty stupid…"

Chip stared out over the ocean, his chilly eyes vague and distant, as they usually were when he was thinking things through. "Maybe not so dumb, after all." He shifted to look back up the steps. From down here, the only thing visible on the hilltop was the set of three columns jutting upwards. "One of the temples up there was dedicated to Hades, god of the underworld…"

So what? But Lee kept the thought to himself and waited patiently for the XO to finish his train of thought. Chip wouldn't have brought up this little bit of trivia if he hadn't thought there was something important about it. Even if he had gotten a nasty knock on the head from a chunk of marble as big as a man's hand.

"Only two of Hades' temples have survived. The other one had catacombs beneath it. A sort of underworld in miniature. Infrared scans show that there is an extensive tunnel system under Sarpolis, but no one has ever found the entrance…" He rose, leaning heavily on the railing. Lee frowned, thinking he looked a bit pale, but refusing to make a fuss about it. At least not yet. Chip hated having a fuss made over him, so it was best to save that for later, if it became necessary. Again, Lee rewrote the plan in his head to reflect their circumstances. "They may have thought they could go underground. Safe bet no one would find them, unless someone knew exactly where to look." He started back up the steps. Lee rose and went after him, trying not to look as if he were worried.

"It doesn't matter," he insisted. "We could just sit here and wait for the ferry…" He grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him to a stop. "If the experts can't find it, what makes you think you can?"

Chip shook his head and winced a little with the movement. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" He pulled away from Lee and started upward again. "Besides, if the experts couldn't find it, what made those goons up there think they could? They had to have some plan to get you off the island. We should try to figure out what it was."

Was he curious about tunnels beneath the temple to Hades? Not really… Mostly Lee was just worried. They had two bad guys tied up at the crown of the island, no ferry due for at least another hour and a half, and no clue as to what the assailants wanted. What he really needed was to get them both off the island before the next act of this drama unfolded, and those hypothetical underground tunnels offered no escape from Sarpolis itself. But Chip was already headed up the steps, and Lee couldn't think of any real reason to stay on the beach and wait for the ferry… So up the steps they went.

At the top, Lee checked over the prisoners carefully, making sure they hadn't managed to worm their way out of their bonds. Chip moved past him to the farthest set of ruins on the acropolis. All that remained were the legs and trunk of a colossus. A head lay half-buried in the ground beside it, the features so worn as to be indistinguishable. Hades, Lee presumed, since Chip had begun examining the area around it, looking for anything that might tell him where to enter the tunnels.

The man Chip had taken down was conscious now, writhing against his bonds. He snarled as Lee squatted beside him and pulled on the belt to make sure it hadn't worked loose. "You think you're so smart!" the man hissed angrily. "You haven't escaped us, yet, commander!"

Apparently Chip was right; they had been after Lee. He shrugged. An empty threat at best, since the would-be kidnappers were tied up. He glanced at Chip and watched idly as the XO crouched at the feet of the statue, eyeing the ground with interest. He was no expert, but if anyone who wasn't an archaeologist could find the entrance to the tunnels it would probably be Chip. Intrigued, in spite of himself, Lee rose, and started toward the ruin. As he walked away the prisoner shouted after him, "Finding the tunnels will do you no good! Do you hear? You cannot escape!"

Interesting… Clearly they had expected to hide out in the tunnels until they could get him safely off the island. But how had they planned to do that? Not by boat… By helicopter? Lee spun around slowly, gauging the area. Yes, there was room for a helicopter to land without severely damaging the ruins… But a helicopter would be noticed; Admiral Nelson would get wind of it, and know that's how they had taken Lee away. Unless it came after dark, showing no lights… There were no residents on Sarpolis, nothing but ghosts and ruins, according to the guidebook, and no one within the radius that a helicopter's engine noise would travel… In the dark, they might have been able to manage it…

But Nelson would have searched the island from stem to stern, and would undoubtedly have had a presence there for days; he would immediately have contacted the Greek government and received permission to camp out, if necessary. He would not have been happy to have one officer injured or dead, and the other one missing. These men might have had to wait for days or weeks before they could remove their captive. How had they planned to do that? And what happened when they didn't signal success?

He walked across to Chip, moderating his haste. No need to communicate his unease to his friend. Chip was quite smart enough to work this out for himself. He crouched down beside the XO. "They probably have accomplices coming on the next ferry."

As expected, Chip wasn't at all surprised by the possibility. "Because they failed to radio in. I know." He frowned at the dirt, clearly not seeing any possibility of entrance. "Did you find out what they want?"

"Doesn't matter. They're not going to get it." Lee sighed. "But you were right. They're after me."

Chip's poker face was firmly in place, but his blue eyes sparked with humor. "Never argue with your XO. I'm always right, you know."

Lee captured that elusive gaze, looking hard for evidence of a concussion from the assault. The warm humor held on for a moment, under his scrutiny, then died as the eyes turned cold. "Lee…" The voice held a warning tone; he hated to have a fuss made over him, and his eyes weren't dilated much, he didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects. The jagged wound still bled sluggishly, but other than that outward evidence, there was nothing for Lee to make a fuss over. He raised his hands in surrender with a laugh.

"Don't bite my head off. Just checking, that's all." He turned his eyes to the ground around the presumed god's stone feet. "Why here? Couldn't the entrance be somewhere else?"

Chip, too, returned to his study of the ground. "In the Necromanteion, the ceremonial tunnel for the secret rituals was said to have opened at the feet of Hades." He glanced upward, following the curve of the legs to the truncated torso, then glanced aside into the sharply weathered stone face that lay nearby. "Presumably these are Hades' feet, so it seems logical to look here." He sighed in frustration. "But I'm not finding anything."

Lee began to carefully brush aside the dirt and pebbles left by years of accumulation and weathering. "Do we even know what we're looking for? It's not like there's going to be a sign saying, Open Here."

"Very funny." Chip also brushed at the ground, tracing the outline of the blocks of stone at Hades' feet. As they busied themselves looking, Lee pondered what to do when the ferry arrived in… He glanced at his watch. A little over an hour, now. And there might be a helicopter waiting somewhere; and, of course, if they didn't make it back to the boat, Admiral Nelson would move heaven and earth to find them. He moved back a little and started brushing off the next block. If they could find the entrance, it wouldn't help them much, if the bad guys already knew the tunnel system…

As if reading his mind, Chip said thoughtfully, "It's doubtful they found the entrance, but you could ask…"

He could, Lee reflected. He might get answers, though it was far more likely that he wouldn't. He glanced at his XO, and saw the speculation in those blue eyes. "They probably won't tell me anything."

"I agree." He rose to his feet, and reached down to help Lee up. "But it can't hurt to ask."

That much was true. If they asked and got an answer, they would know a little more than before; if they asked and didn't get an answer, they were no worse off than they were before. Lee went back to his prisoner and squatted down beside him. "So why don't you tell me why you think I can't escape? There's a ferry coming soon, and we can just get on it and be gone." Not true, of course, but if the assailant thought he was a fool, then the guy might be willing to talk.

The guy growled at him. "Think I'm going to tell you anything? I know who you are, Crane. I know you think you're some kind of hotshot because you run missions for ONI. But you won't get anything out of me."

"Oh, well then, it won't matter if I kick his teeth in, will it, Lee?" Chip loomed up over them, the toe of his shoe resting just inches from the prisoner's face. "And after all, he did hit me with a great big chunk of marble."

Lee shook his head with a sigh. "Revenge isn't your style, my friend. Besides, how can he talk if you kick his teeth in?" He popped his knuckles and smiled at the assailant. "It's all just bravado, you know. Once I get started on him, he'll talk." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his penknife. "I just need to get a few things together."

"What can I help you with?" Chip looked around, tapping his foot; a menacing gesture, as close as he was to the man. "Unfortunately, I don't carry brass knuckles with me, but the right size stone would do as well."

Lee, watching the man's face, knew it wouldn't work. He didn't even flinch, and his eyes held the steady, stony glare. He wouldn't be intimidated by the most stomach-turning torture they devised, much less the simple threat of it. And if he truly did know Lee well, he would know that there were things Lee drew the line at, and torture was one of them. Even if he were capable of it, Chip would never allow it. For all his ability to play to Lee's lead, he was a true straight arrow; he could threaten with the best of them if it were necessary, but he would never follow through.

So what would it take to make their prisoner talk? He thought about it as he held that sneering gaze. "Your boss isn't going to be happy with you. If you thought you were going to take me without a better plan than that, you messed up, my friend." An understatement if there ever was one. They had screwed up mightily. Whoever was in charge would not be best pleased… "You were supposed to capture me and kill my friend, here, I suppose? What happens when they find out you failed?"

Something flickered at the back of the man's eyes; the emotion was unreadable, but whatever it was, it was at least an indication that Lee had struck a nerve. "I'm guessing whatever they do, it won't be pleasant." He smiled and rose. "This is a no go, Chip. This guy won't talk. We'll leave him to his masters. By the time they're finished with him…" He shrugged and started to walk away. If the prisoner were going to speak, now was the time. If he didn't, well, Lee and Chip would have to come up with a plan to take on the ferry passengers. In just under an hour, now; the plan would be cobbled together from whatever the two of them could think of between now and when the ferry came. Not the sort of plan Lee liked to work with, but the best they could do on short notice. He glared at Hades' feet, and felt Chip join him. "We need a plan."

"No kidding." Chip followed the direction of Lee's glare and smiled that mischievous smile. "It's hardly Hades' fault, Lee."

Lee snarled a bit impatiently, then glanced at his friend, feeling the sudden tension in the air. Chip had seen something… What? He half-turned and watched as Chip crouched down, almost between the feet of the statue, brushing the dirt away. Lee saw the soft dust swirl, then settle into cracks around the stone. This could be something. He squatted beside Chip, and slid his long, slim fingers into the cracks… Yes, there was an opening under here, but the stone was heavy. Unless there were some kind of counterbalancing system, he wasn't sure he could lift it.

A moment later, Chip's own fingers slipped into the cracks, and they glanced at each other, gauging their combined strength. No need of a countdown: at precisely the same moment, they heaved at the stone. It lifted smoothly, swinging upward, and sliding back across the stone behind it.

"At the feet of Hades…" Chip breathed. There was a certain amount of cynicism in his voice, but beneath it, Lee could hear excitement, interest, the intense longing to explore. Chip Morton and Admiral Nelson had far more in common than either of them thought. "Well, I guess it's close enough."

They both turned to look at the bound man lying a little more than twelve yards away. He couldn't see them, but that didn't stop him squirming on the ground, trying to get a glimpse of what they discovered. Lee cocked his head, thinking it out. What if they didn't know about the tunnels? What if they had always planned to take him out by ferry? The ferry service would have to be in on it; but that wasn't a huge leap. They didn't do much business, obviously. If they got a kickback from the kidnappers, they might be swayed… "We should make sure these two can't talk."

Chip gave him a hard glare, then sighed. "We could always hit them with a giant chunk of marble."

Lee laughed, but shook his head. It was tempting, but no. "Let's just carry them down to the beach and leave them there for their buddies." But first, he reached for the stone, planning to slide it back into place. They knew how to open it now. The tunnels would shelter them for a few hours, and when Nelson came looking, they'd be waiting…


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Martin Ramirez had never been so frightened in his life. One minute he had been on Corfu, strolling about the market, looking for the supplies he needed for the upcoming dive, but also soaking in the atmosphere, enjoying the glimpses he got of the people's way of life here... The next he had been grabbed, bundled into a little shack at the eastern edge of the market, and threatened with a gun... With a gun! He was a marine archaeologist for heaven's sake! The only guns he usually saw were the ones dug up from old shipwrecks!

They had tied him up, thrown a blanket over his head and hustled him through streets that sounded as if there were many people about. Yet not one of them bothered to help him. He wondered if they noticed that he was there, or if his captors had him so surrounded that no one could see him. He had that thought just before someone shoved him and he fell like a sack of potatoes onto something hard, curved, wooden... A boat? He thought it was a boat, was sure of it when he heard the motor start up and the boat began to move. He felt the cold sea spray, and smelled the mingled smells of salt and fish that were common to an ocean environment.

A few minutes later, the blanket was torn from his head, and he got his first good look at the people who had kidnapped him. He didn't know a single one of them... Perhaps it was just his situation that colored his perceptions, but he thought they were a rough-and-tumble, scruffy, sinister group. Why had he gone into Corfu? He could have sent Chief Sharkey for his supplies... "What do you want?" His voice quavered a bit; he fought to shore it up with determination and the surety of rescue. Admiral Nelson would find out what had happened. Of course, he would.

They didn't give him an answer anyway. He twisted his wrists against the rope and looked around. He didn't recognize this stretch of water. Where were they going? A tiny island began to grown in the distance, probably about forty-five minutes away. Were they going there? Dr. Ramirez searched his brain for the identity of the island. He should know. He'd memorized almost every map of Greece he'd come across preparing himself for this dive... Was that...? Yes, he thought it was the temple island, Sarpolis. Why were they going to Sarpolis? What did they want with a lowly marine archaeologist? There weren't any wrecks near that island, and if there were, they were probably only carrying temple goods... The island had been deserted much of the year, anyway... "Where are we going?" He tried again to get information out of his captors. This time one of them snarled at him.

"Shut up!" The voice was gruff, a little raspy, as if the man had allergies or had talked for hours and weakened his voice. Whatever the reason, he was not forthcoming with any information. And he held the gun, so Dr. Ramirez shut up.

But that didn't stop him from thinking. Why would anyone kidnap him? There were only two reasons he could think of. A.) because he worked for the Nelson Institute, and Admiral Nelson was well-known in international circles. They might think that he had some value to Nelson, or that Nelson would give up secrets to have him returned safely. But Dr. Ramirez didn't think that was very likely. So, perhaps B.) there was something on that ancient wreck he was excavating that they wanted. That, too, didn't seem very likely, but they had just begun the dig, so he couldn't really say what was in there yet. So far, they'd just mapped the debris trail and photographed the wreckage. They were supposed to have started in on the deck this afternoon. Young Mr. Morton had had some excellent ideas for using the tiny little robotic sub to get photographs and sample some of the wreckage. He was very glad that the executive officer had been assigned to the dive. Captain Crane was certainly very knowledgeable, and an experienced diver but he hadn't really had any interest in the wreck...

Dr. Ramirez shook himself and tried to focus on the matter at hand. Perhaps this wasn't the first time the wreck had been explored? Perhaps these men had dived on it without the knowledge or permission of the Greek government. Had they intended to go back for something, only to find Seaview camped out, and the wreck being mapped?

He shivered; there had been some mysterious incidents the first day of the dive, when the captain was still leading the charge. One of their cameras had gone missing... A terrible occurrence when they were photographing the debris field. They had had to replace the camera and begin again.

One of the men had sworn they had seen something in the water, too. He remembered that Kowalski had claimed to see shadows above them, as if there were other divers in the water. He and the captain had thoroughly checked it out and found nothing, but Kowalski was a good man and a good diver... He wouldn't have been mistaken...

He was getting quite soaked from the salt sea spray and the wind was cold. Dr. Ramirez shivered, but his mind kept hammering away at the question. What could be in that old trading ship that these people would be interested in? Sharks like these generally only wanted something that would net them a lot of money. The archaeologist expected to find some amphora, some pottery, maybe a statue or two, though probably not bronze ones... The greatest prize would be the information they gained from the ship about Greek trade routes, and so forth. He had expected nothing that might have significant monetary value...

If they were very lucky they might find the ship's log... Admiral Nelson was very hopeful that they would. It would tell them a great deal about where the ship had been, who its officers were, what had happened to it... But it would take years to decipher, and none of that information would be valuable in any monetary sense...

What could it be? That they were after something was not in doubt... But was it something on the wreck, or something that only Admiral Nelson could give them? Dr. Ramirez shivered again, but not from the cold. Admiral Nelson would not negotiate with people like this. Of that, the archaeologist was certain.

He glanced at the island again. It was significantly closer. Perhaps only a few minutes away now. He had whiled away quite a bit of time in speculation. Too bad it hadn't gotten him any closer to an answer.

Mr. Morton had indicated that he and the captain might visit Sarpolis while Seaview was nearby. Perhaps they were there now? Perhaps they would see what was happening and come to help. Dr. Ramirez hoped for that, but didn't count on it. He was very much afraid that if he were going to survive this, he'd have to get himself out of it... And he wasn't sure how to do that...

Well, he ought to start figuring that out. He twisted his hands against the rope again, feeling a little give. Maybe he could wriggle out of that, but then what did he do? He pondered that; there was one man with a gun. He thought the others probably had knives or some other sort of weapon. How to get away from them without taking significant damage? He could dive over the side of the boat and swim away... But they were very far from any dry land but Sarpolis. Not the best choice perhaps...

He could see caves in the cliffs of the island, now, and the columns rising in stately ruin atop the island. No stairs on this side. This wasn't where the ferry landed. There was no way up to the top from here that he could see... But there was a temple to Hades up there. There might be tunnels. If he escaped, could he go into the tunnels?

But what if he got hopelessly lost? The tunnels hadn't yet been discovered, except by ground scans. No one had been in them in centuries. No one would know where he had gone... No, that definitely was not an option.

One of the men called out to another, "When did the ferry leave?"

The other man looked at his watch and calculated; the math must have been laborious for him, because he screwed his face up in concentration. "About an hour ago?"

The man with the gun nodded. "Then let's swing around to the ferry dock. By the time we get there, we might have a neat little package waiting for us."

The one driving the boat nodded, and began to make a turn that would take them around the island. Dr. Ramirez did his own calculations, much more quickly, and with no face to show what he was up to. The captain and Mr. Morton had been scheduled to leave about an hour and a half after he did... He'd been wandering around the market for at least two hours before he was captured... The ferry would have made it's drop-off about noon, which meant it wouldn't be due back until 2:00. It was – if the other man's calculations were right – about 1:00... Perhaps the captain and Mr. Morton were there... If he could just get their attention...

He thought it would take them another thirty minutes or so to reach the ferry dock, depending on its location.

What neat little package? Were they going to kidnap someone else? He thought furiously. Both Captain Crane and Mr. Morton had worked on the dive... But it was unlikely that they would know that. Dr. Ramirez struggled to remember if one of them had been officially announced... He didn't think so, which would mean that they had an informant on board Seaview... No, wait a minute... Hadn't there been that newspaper article? The admiral had been upset about that. He hadn't wanted everyone to know which wreck they were diving on. There were several in these waters, but the trading ship was the oldest. Admiral Nelson had intended to keep their dive quiet, but the Greek Antiquities department had been so excited that a scientist of the admiral's caliber was interested in the ancient wreck, that they had issued a press release that had been picked up by all the Greek papers, and a good few of the international ones. And it **had **announced that Captain Crane would head up the diving team...

Hmmm... But if their plans were to kidnap Captain Crane, then they had to be looking for something on the wreck. And they weren't to know that Captain Crane had gracefully given way to a man much more suited to the work than he had been. Antiquities were not a source of excitement for the good captain; the boundless energy and enthusiasm of Mr. Morton had led to much better yields on the few dives they had already done. They were ready now to explore the wreck itself, much sooner than they would have been if Captain Crane had stayed on the dive.

They were about to kidnap the wrong man! He had to get word to the captain... But how?

He watched mournfully as the boat made its way around the island, slowly approaching the ferry dock. There was a great deal of excitement when they got close enough to see two men squirming against their bonds, laying on the sandy strip of beach. It wasn't until they got closer that anyone realized that neither of the men waiting for them was Captain Crane. Dr. Ramirez felt a small surge of hope, when they drew up at the ferry dock, and one of the captives on the beach yelled, "They've gone into the tunnels!"

So the captain and Mr. Morton had escaped! How had they found the entrance to the tunnels beneath the temple of Hades? Dr. Ramirez was sure that he had read that the tunnel entrance hadn't yet been found... He watched as the man with the gun leaped onto the beach and stalked over to the writhing captives. It would be interesting to hear their side of the story. How did they know the two officers had gone into the tunnel? Had they seen...?

The double roar of the gun startled him out of his thoughts. The gunman had shot the two bound men and was now squatting beside them, looking through their pockets, taking what he wanted. A cold-blooded killer! Dr. Ramirez shuddered and worked again at the rope that bound him. He was being held captive by a cold-blooded killer... And if that man found Captain Crane and Mr. Morton...

Dr. Ramirez shivered again, cold from the salt sea spray, but also from the chilling fact that murderers surrounded him. Were they planning to kill him as well? Perhaps that would be better than whatever else they had in mind, but the fact remained that Dr. Ramirez wasn't particularly ready to die.

The rope gave a little more. He held his breath as the gunman climbed back into the boat and they headed for the other side of the island. Perhaps he could work free... Perhaps if he waited his chance, he could get away from them...

It seemed an incredibly long shot. But it might be the only shot he had...


	3. Chapter 3

Admiral Nelson paced his cabin, his angry thoughts creating a tornado in his mind. Dr. Ramirez had left this morning – some six hours ago - to get some supplies in Corfu, but he hadn't returned. A little over an hour after he left, Lee and Chip had also gone, to take some shore leave, perhaps do a little sightseeing. Nelson had seen their itinerary and secretly laughed at the thought of Lee's consternation. The captain was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a history buff. He had asked to be taken off the dive on the ancient trading ship almost before the first day of diving was completed. With a spark of mischief in his eyes, he had suggested Chip for his replacement; Nelson knew that was in the nature of needling his friend and XO. But Chip had actually liked diving on the ancient wreck. And Dr. Ramirez had been very complimentary of the knowledgeable young officer. The two of them had hit it off, and Chip was far from bored, coming back to Seaview from the dives with many questions and suggestions and a wide-eyed enthusiasm that had made everyone around him smile.

Nelson knew that Lee was intrigued by that enthusiasm and saw it as a chance to help him learn a little more about his XO. He already knew a great deal, wormed out of Chip, despite the XO's reluctance to share his private life. Still, Lee was a master at dragging things out of people no matter how reluctant they were. Chip hadn't really stood a chance, but instead of jeopardizing the relationship between the command team – an all-important relationship for the health of the boat – it seemed to have solidified their friendship... In fact, Chip willingly told Lee things he would never tell anyone else. The admiral found that intriguing, because initially he had thought the two of them too different to forge any sort of real friendship. Lee was charming, outgoing, and outstandingly heroic; Chip tended to keep himself to himself, and few people ever saw that powerhouse smile that could light up a room. He could be heroic as well, but tended to a calculated action, everything carefully planned out. Lee planned on the fly, using his skills to pull him through. Chip preferred to leave nothing to chance, plotting out every angle to be sure he had everything covered. His enthusiasm for the dive had been somewhat of a surprise, and Nelson thought he would greatly enjoy the field trip to Sarpolis. It was very doubtful that Lee would enjoy it as much as Chip would...

But none of that explained at all why neither they nor Dr. Ramirez had returned from their respective shore leaves on time. He had sent a search party to Corfu, but they had been unable to find a trace of Dr. Ramirez, nor had they spoken to anyone who had seen him. A shrug, a shake of the head... No one had seen him, no one had talked to him... It was as if the marine archaeologist had vanished without a trace; as if he had never existed at all.

Add to that the fact that Lee and Chip had been gone for at least two hours over their period of leave – completely unlike either of them – and Nelson was steaming. Not just one missing man, but three, and none of them irresponsible or daring enough to miss what amounted to a curfew. Dr. Ramirez had another dive scheduled later today, and Chip had been planning to dive with him. The old trading ship and her possible cargo was a source of endless fascination for the scientist and the XO. They wouldn't have missed that chance to go out to her again...

He knew that Lee and Chip had headed for the island of Sarpolis, now uninhabited, but once covered with temples to the ancient Greek gods. It wasn't a place that Lee would enjoy, but he had let Chip plan the outing, and Chip naturally would want to see the ancient temples. Lee wouldn't care about the temples, but he would be very interested in the enthusiasm Chip showed for them. He was constantly looking for a way to draw the quieter, more reserved XO out from behind the walls he'd built around himself, and this looked like a sure thing. But when Nelson had sent Sharkey and some men to check out Sarpolis, all they had found were two dead men on the beach and an empty island. Odd, since the last ferry of the afternoon had come about an hour before Sharkey had descended on the island; they should surely have found and reported the dead men, and anyone who had been there, including his two officers, should have left with the ferry, but Nelson knew his command team hadn't been on it. They should still have been on Sarpolis therefore... But the island was deserted.

A more thorough report had been forthcoming from the COB when he reported back to the boat; the term "mother hen" had probably been coined for the efficient, overly protective chief. Sharkey had torn the island apart, looking for his officers, but all he had found, besides two bodies, tied up with Navy issue belts, were bullet scars on the ancient stones. Very clearly, his officers had tied up the two men, but they hadn't been armed... And even if they had been, they wouldn't have shot two men who had already been incapacitated.

But the presence of those two unreported dead men meant that Nelson didn't dare report his missing officers to the authorities. Not unless he wanted Greek officials accusing his men of murder. Trials in foreign countries were problematic, as they didn't always follow the familiar procedures found in American trials or court-martials. Nelson knew his men hadn't killed anyone; he would not take the risk that the Greek authorities wouldn't believe them...

But he had to wonder what had happened... Clearly, the two dead men had been a threat, or Lee and Chip wouldn't have felt compelled to tie them up. And the bullet scars on the ruins told their own tale. Sharkey was sure they were fresh scars, from shots fired no more than a few hours before. Since his officers had gone off on shore leave unarmed, it seemed most likely that the men shooting were the men dead on the sand. But if that were so, then where had Lee and Chip gone? They had to take the ferry to get off the island. They hadn't; so they should still be on the island, but... They weren't...

Nelson cursed angrily. Where were they? If they were still free, why hadn't they contacted Seaview and explained themselves? Answer: for whatever reason, they couldn't. And if they couldn't, that must mean they were in deep trouble. Why was it always Lee who got into trouble? No, that wasn't fair; Chip could get himself into just as much trouble as Lee, though it was far less likely to be his fault, when it happened. Lee seemed to search trouble out, his larger-than-life personality a magnet for enemies. Chip, on the other hand, was quieter and – on the surface of things – less of a target. Yet somehow, he still seemed to attract trouble, not because he was larger-than-life, but because he was so damned brilliant, and there were always people in the world who wanted to know things they weren't entitled to know... Most of those people seemed to want to know Nelson's secrets, and Chip was privy to a great many of them. He was also the most accessible of Nelson's senior officers. The admiral had had to take precautions to keep his command team protected. They hated it, but he wasn't inclined to subject to anymore threats than were absolutely necessary...

All that was serious enough; Nelson always worried when his command team went missing, because it usually meant they had a fight on their hands. But his marine archaeologist – a thoroughly dependable man; and a thoroughly gentle one – had also gone missing.

It had to be tied to the wreck they were working on. It was too much of a coincidence that the leader of the team, plus two of the men who had dived on the wreck had gone missing within the space of a few hours. But it was just a typical ancient Greek trading ship. What could possibly be worth so much that someone was willing to kidnap three people to stop the work?

He moved to his desk, looking down at Dr. Ramirez's notes through narrowed eyes. Nothing in the reports he'd made, or in the notes he'd taken suggested anything to Nelson. They'd been busy tracing the trail of wreckage, mapping it out precisely on the ocean floor. The upcoming dive would have finished that work. Then they would begin on the crumpled decks of the ship, photographing the positions of the debris, gently extracting anything of value to history... Dr. Ramirez had indicated that he didn't think they'd find anything with real monetary value in this day and age. Perhaps a few Greek kouroi or korai, or maybe some amphora that had once been filled with wine. Greek pottery... But no money and probably no weapons. It had been a simple Greek trading ship...

So what were these hypothetical kidnappers after? Nelson pondered that question through narrowed eyes. The statuary, if there were any, would have a monetary value, depending on their quality and age. There were a number of extant kouroi, moreso than korai, but neither were particularly valuable except to museums. A fine one, or perhaps one sculpted by a known ancient sculptor, might be worth a little more... But worth the kidnapping of three men? Not likely.

Information? But any information on that ship would be in the form of clues that very few men other than trained archaeologists could read. And nothing they gleaned would be earth-shattering, except perhaps to the scientific community. Again not likely to be worth the kidnapping of three men...

So there was something else on that ship. Something that Dr. Ramirez was not aware of, something that even the Greek government was not aware of... But if that were so, how had these people known about it? Had they dived on the wreck without permission? Or did they just think what they wanted was on this ship?

He remembered Kowalski's report from the first dive: he had thought he had seen two divers in the water above them as they worked the wreck. Their silhouettes had shown clearly against the sunlight filtering through the water, and Ski had been positive of what he had seen. Yet, when he had gone to warn them off, he had found no divers... Were those unknown party crashers the same men who had kidnapped three men? Had their three men even been kidnapped? The answer to that question was paramount...

But even more important was discovering what information the kidnappers expected to get from their three captives, assuming that Lee and Chip had indeed been captured... That was never a safe assumption: Lee had ways of getting out of dangerous situations, and he wouldn't leave a man behind. It seemed likely that something had happened to them, since they weren't on the island... But what that something might be was far harder to determine.

He picked up the mike on his desk and bellowed into it. "Sharkey! We're going to Sarpolis. I want a team of three men. We will turn that island upside down." He double-clicked the mike as he continued. "Mr. Bishop. Station a team of divers over that wreck. Change them every hour. I want to know if anyone goes near it, and I want to know immediately!"

"Aye, sir," came through the mike from both men. Satisfied, Nelson tossed the mike down and headed to the control room. He would take the flying sub to Sarpolis. They could land in the water, and stay hidden. He and his team would go ashore in diving suits. He could set FS1 to scan for anyone coming near the island. They would be alerted if the shooter returned. And they would go armed, and prepared to defend themselves or rescue their people.

Lee and Chip had to still be on Sarpolis. The deeper mystery was what had happened to Dr. Ramirez...


	4. Chapter 4

As the stone closed above them, Lee drew his penlight from his pocket, and saw Chip do the same. They both knew that they had no chance of contacting anyone down here; the stone canopy above them would prevent any cell phone signals getting through. They were as much on their own as they had ever been. Lee directed his light to his right and saw nothing much but solid walls. He glanced in Chip's direction, and noted that the penlight barely penetrated the darkness. More going on to the left, obviously. He started to step past Chip, but pulled up when the XO shook his head. "Wait a bit, Lee. We don't know what might be up ahead there. Shouldn't we come up with a plan of action first?"

Well, they should, but it was hard to plan for any eventuality when the terrain was a complete unknown. "I think we're going to have to fly by the seat of our pants, buddy. We're stumbling around in the dark just as much as the next guy."

"I'm afraid the next guy may actually know the tunnels better than we do," Chip noted dryly, but this time he dropped in beside Lee when the captain started walking again. "We should look for a path that leads downward to the west side of the island. There are caves in the cliffs there, and some of these tunnels probably end up there."

Lee nodded and sniffed the air. Chip was right; some of the tunnels probably did lead to the caves, and the caves would be as good a place as any to await the admiral's rescue party. But the kidnappers probably also knew about the caves. He didn't need to tell Chip that; the XO was perfectly capable of figuring that out on his own. He sniffed the air again. A faint hint of salt and fish wafted from the darkness to the left. "That way."

Chip nodded, already on the move. Lee overtook him in a stride or two and bent a glare on his friend; one that Chip couldn't see admittedly. Their penlights seemed to be feeble and faint in the darkness. "I'll take point," the captain said firmly, but his only answer was a snort of exasperation.

"You are not expendable." It was a perfectly reasonable point, if it were any other captain standing here...

But Lee refused to believe that anyone was expendable; what's more, he knew Chip was well aware of that fact. Indeed, Chip Morton wasn't in the habit of thinking anyone expendable either. He just had a perfect mania for considering himself more expendable than anyone else. Idiot. "No one is expendable. And I'll make this an order if I have to. I'll take point. Your brains have been scrambled by a giant chunk of marble. So just do what I tell you." He ducked ahead of his friend without waiting for the coming argument.

But he didn't escape the protest, or the icy feel of those eyes on his back; for once he was glad he couldn't see Chip's expression. He knew by the feel that it was the glare the XO saved for the worst wrongdoers on board. "You do not need to speak in words of one syllable to me. I am not an idiot. I have my doubts about you." He moved up next to Lee. The tunnel was surprisingly roomy; not a point in its favor, at the moment. "They are after you." The XO bit the words off crisply, as if he were explaining to a moron. "So if you go first, and they are here somewhere, they will have the advantage. Whereas, if I go first, you will at least have a chance to escape while they're killing me. Understand?"

"Like I'm going to let them kill you." Lee stopped, and laid a hand on his friend's arm, pulling Chip to a stop as well. "Look. Let's go side-by-side and argue about who takes point when we figure out if anyone's in here with us."

He didn't wait to hear Chip's reluctant agreement. Instead, he strode forward, flashing his penlight around, looking for any forks in the path. The hint of salt and fish was growing stronger, but that wasn't exactly reassuring, when the tunnels seemed to be closing in and getting darker. He put his hand against the wall on his left, and reached out, laying his hand on Chip's shoulder. "Can you touch the wall on the right?"

"Yes," came the immediate reply. Lee nodded and shut off his penlight, noting that Chip had already done the same. They were useless in this darkness anyway, not offering enough light to show them anything.

"Sing out, if you come across an opening. I think we're bearing a little too far south to hit the caves, so we need to find a tunnel that will take us a little more westward." Lee began counting under his breath. Every step they took carried them farther from known territory. They didn't want to get lost in these tunnels, but they had no choice but to explore them, unless they wanted to wait around and get caught. Since the kidnappers had no intention of taking both of them alive, Lee knew they couldn't take that chance. He sniffed the air again, and wrinkled his nose. There was some indefinable change... Not just salt and fish, now, but also...

"Lee!" Chip's voice had dropped to a whisper, but the urgency was clear. Lee glanced in his direction, and saw the light flickering out of an opening just beyond Chip's fingers. Another tunnel... but clearly a well-used one, if it were lighted.

They fell into that rhythm that characterized their friendship. Chip flattened himself against the wall by the opening as Lee slipped by, going to the wall on the other side. He had never found anyone else who could so easily and wordlessly follow his lead as Chip could; if ONI had any idea how talented the younger man was, they would have snatched him up instantly. It was Lee's mission to make sure they never did; Chip would never make an ONI agent. He had too much integrity. To be a successful agent, you had to have just a little bit of larceny in your soul...

Lee shook the thought away and glanced into the opening they were flanking. No one was visible; he could spot a turn in the tunnel that blocked his view of anyone who might be walking or standing there. The light reflected off that wall, throwing shadows around the corner. Lee glanced at Chip and nodded.

Chip slipped into the opening, hugging the wall, and eased down to the corner they could see. He glanced around it, then beckoned Lee silently. The captain moved as quietly as possible, past Chip, easing around the corner. Nobody near, but now they had a problem. There were two pathways: one led to the right and was brightly lit. The other led to the left and was lit only by the dim reflection of the light from the brighter corridor. But Lee thought they might come together again farther along the tunnel.

He glanced at Chip and gestured to the left. Chip slid past him and headed down the darker corridor. Lee saw him lay a hand on his pocket; probably reaching for a penknife. Not a bad idea. Lee pulled his own knife out as he moved stealthily down the brighter tunnel.

Up ahead, he heard a voice and flattened himself against the wall, waiting. Someone was up there, and the echoing sound of the voice spoiled any chance of telling how far away the person was. Lee waited a moment, then crept forward again, listening hard.

Voices... He was listening to several voices, not just one. He eased closer, worrying about how Chip was making out with his tunnel. Would they cross again? And if they did, would Chip run into trouble? Lee shook his head and shut the thought away. Chip could handle himself. Lee had to concentrate on his own problems right now. He slid a little closer to the sound, hoping the conversation would become clearer. He needed to hear what they were saying; he wasn't sure why, but instinct told him the conversation was important...

"They took care of the two we left on the beach."

Lee froze as the voice suddenly became clear, like a telescope coming into focus. He recognized that voice; the ferry captain's voice. He remembered the man droning on and on about Sarpolis while Chip shook his head at what Lee could only imagine were gross inaccuracies. He had suspected the ferry company – a small, privately owned affair – was in on this. Now he had proof. He moved closer slowly, listening intently.

"They're on their way." That voice didn't sound familiar. "Kristopolous just radioed in. They have the other man."

What other man? This didn't bode well.

"Good. He can show us how far they've gotten. They can't have found it yet, or that American admiral would have been crowing over it."

They were talking about the shipwreck. Lee wondered what it was Dr. Ramirez hadn't found yet. They'd barely begun diving on the wreck, so whatever it was, it hadn't been in the debris trail and it wasn't noticeably visible on the crushed deck of the ancient ship. It must be inside, where the robot hadn't been yet. But what could it be? This group wouldn't be interested in information, unless it was very lucrative information. Dr. Ramirez had already stated that he doubted there was anything of real value aboard the wreck...

Lee closed his eyes in frustration; he didn't have enough background knowledge to know what might be valuable to these people. Instead, he inched a little closer, trying to gauge how many people were in the room. He'd heard two voices, but that didn't mean there were only two people there. He reached the opening behind which the voices spoke. Squatting down, he risked a quick glance into the room, keeping himself below the eye line of any potential occupants. Only two that were visible. There was another opening beyond, and there might be people back there.

He'd have to lure them outside one at a time to take care of them. He looked around but there wasn't anything lying on the ground nearby that would be useful. He only carried his penlight and pocket knife; he certainly didn't want to lose either of those. He crouched down again and peered into the opening again. Near the door was a pebble. He watched carefully, and when neither of the occupants was looking toward the door, he snatched it and quickly pulled out of sight again. Okay. Now he had something to work with. He drew in a silent breath, then tossed the pebble down the corridor behind him.

"Did you hear that?" The ferry captain's voice coarsened with tension. He received no audible answer. Lee listened to footsteps approaching, ready and waiting. As the man came out the door, he flung an arm around his throat, increasing the pressure until the man passed out, and went limp in his arms. One down; one to go. He lowered the man to the floor of the tunnel, and bound him with his own belt. Now to get the next man out here. He searched the ferry captain's pockets and found a set of keys. Nice... Without a moment's hesitation, he flung them away listening in satisfaction as they jangled loudly.

The unknown man lunged through the opening. He put up a more violent fight than the ferry captain had, but Lee held on, tightening his grip until the man couldn't draw breath. Even then he thrashed about, scrabbling at Lee's arm, leaving long surface welts with his nails. But in the end, he, too, passed out and was tied up with his own belt. Lee moved cautiously into the next area, watching for anyone else who might turn up.

No one did; the coast was apparently clear. He moved through the room, and out the opening into another well-lit tunnel. No one was moving about; the stink of fish and salt was stronger. Lee moved forward cautiously.

He heard no more voices, but surely those two people hadn't been the only ones in the tunnels. The silence made him nervous, and he slowed, moving as cautiously as possible. As he went, he thought about what he'd heard, trying to make sense of it.

_They took care of the two we left on the beach..._

Those would be the two original assailants. Lee didn't like the sound of the words. If they'd been taken care of, chances were they'd been killed. The only identification on them would be the belts that Chip and Lee had used to tie the men up... Which meant, he and Chip automatically became the suspects in the murders. Not good at all... He didn't know what Greek prisons were like, but he wasn't keen on spending the next few years in them...

_Kristopolous just radioed in. They have the other man._

_ Good. He can show us how far they've gotten. They can't have found it yet, or that American admiral would have been crowing over it._

This concerned Lee on a completely different level. The other man had to be one of the admiral's men... Otherwise, he couldn't show these people what they'd found so far on that wreck... But other than Chip, the only one who could tell them anything was Dr. Ramirez...

Surely they hadn't kidnapped Dr. Ramirez? But he'd gone ashore before Lee and Chip had started out on their tour... He'd been scheduled to return after they'd already left, so Lee had no idea if he'd reported in or not... But if he hadn't...

If he hadn't, then they had to not only rescue themselves, they had to somehow find and rescue Dr. Ramirez, too. Tricky, when they didn't even really know their way around these tunnels...

He saw a movement in a dark cross-corridor ahead of him, and heard a yelp that was quickly cut off. A moment later, Chip slipped into the corridor, saw Lee, and shrugged at him. He held up two fingers, and nodded when Chip held up two as well. Four men down, but no idea how many others to go... Nor did they know if that stifled cry had been heard by anyone. Lee slithered down the corridor to talk to Chip.

"We've got trouble."

Chip sighed. "I know. He took me by surprise, damn it. Sorry about that."

Lee shook his head. "Not him. I overheard two men talking about a guy named Kristopolous who's on his way with another prisoner. I think it may be Dr. Ramirez..."

Something flickered behind that impassive gaze. Lee knew he'd surprised his XO, but waited for Chip to think about what he'd said and process it. "So it has to do with the shipwreck... That would be why they went after you."

"You're the one diving the wreck," Lee pointed out, wondering why his friend had jumped to the conclusion that they'd wanted Lee because of the wreck.

"Not according to the papers." Chip stopped and sniffed the air. "I think we want to bear to the right here."

The papers... Lee had forgotten about that stupid article. Admiral Nelson had really blown his stack over that. He didn't actively seek publicity like some people did, and in fact became quite angry when reporters chased him. The security at the Institute knew to keep reporters out unless the admiral okayed their entrance. In theory, this meant they only had reporters on the grounds when necessary. In practice, the admiral never let them in, even when they had a real need to know. Instead, all press conferences took place just outside the Institute gates. No reporter had ever so much as set a foot on Institute soil...

Admiral Nelson had poured out an impressive tirade into the ears of any Greek government official he could get hold of after that article had come out. When he was through, they all understood that there would be no more reports on what Seaview was doing in the area, unless the admiral himself allowed it. But clearly the damage had been done. In that article, Lee had been announced as the lead diver. So naturally, with no information to the contrary, the assailants had tried to get Lee...

He cursed under his breath, and gave Chip the rest of it. "Kristopolous took care of the guys on the beach. So we may been spending the rest of our days in a Greek prison. Not exactly my idea of fun."

Chip smiled that rare and mischievous smile. "No need to worry about that. The admiral will break us out." He sobered almost immediately however. "Not such a good idea to leave our belts, was it?" He paused and turned his head, cocking it slightly as if he'd heard something.

Lee turned his head in the same direction, listening hard. Were those footsteps? He glanced at Chip, and nodded when the younger man jerked his thumb to the left. He watched Chip disappear into the blackness, making sure the XO was out of sight before darting to the right, slipping into the nearest opening and waiting.

"I don't like this." A strange voice, growling just a little. Was this Kristopolous? "Where are the others?" He shifted into Greek, of which Lee couldn't understand a word. Sad, really. He knew something like eight languages, and these villains happened to be speaking in one he didn't know. Chip would be able to understand them, but while they were separated, that didn't do Lee any good.

"I don't understand you." That was a voice Lee knew well. Dr. Ramirez sounded peeved; his voice had risen just a little, and there was a hint of fear underneath it.

The sound of flesh striking flesh almost pulled Lee out of his hiding place. The harsher voice snarled. "Shut up. You don't need to know or understand anything. All you need to do is tell us what's on that wreck."

Another voice spoke up, now. "You're not helping things, Kristopolous. Alexandros was supposed to meet us. Where is he? Where are the others? Something's not right here..."

Kristopolous growled again. "They said that Crane and his buddy had gone into the tunnels. Maybe they're the reason that everything's so quiet around here." He lifted his voice, taking what Lee knew was just a shot in the dark. "Crane! I..." He broke off as there was a little scuffle and again the sound of someone being hit. Hard. "I have your buddy here! You'd better get out here with your hands up, or I will make an example of him."

The silence could have been cut with a knife. Lee knew that Chip was too smart to fall into that trap. They must be talking about Dr. Ramirez... But they needed Dr. Ramirez, so they wouldn't be making an example of him. Lee remained silent and still, though the instinct to surge into action was strong.

"He's not here. Your men must have lied." Give Dr. Ramirez his due; this situation was completely beyond his experience, but he was acquitting himself well. He was afraid, but he wasn't giving an inch. Lee's respect for him went up a notch.

"Oh, he's here somewhere." Kristopolous almost purred; what did he have to be so satisfied about? "Andros, you and Matthias have a look around. Be careful. Captain Crane is an intelligence agent, and has quite a few tricks up his sleeve. Avoid him if you can. Find the other one and bring him to me. Alive for preference. I can use him to flush the good captain out."

Thank God, Chip was listening to this as well. There was no way he'd let himself be found by these amateurs. But Lee still felt his tension ratchet up further. They'd have to neutralize these two, but how many did that leave? Just Kristopolous and his prisoner, or were there others they haven't even found yet?

He drove the thought from his mind when he heard the approaching footsteps. Two sets: one heading toward him, while the other apparently took the other tunnel and was moving away. He clenched and unclenched his hands, waiting as the footsteps drew closer. He would let the man move around the corner before he struck; he couldn't afford to be seen by the man who was clearly the leader of this group. Kristopolous gave the orders; Lee didn't want to confirm the man's suspicions.

The footsteps paused; Lee could hear his enemy breathing as he waited just outside the opening, as if afraid to turn the corner. The seconds stretched into minutes while they stood, each on different sides of the opening. Lee controlled his own breathing, keeping it soft and steady, refusing to gasp in air, though his lungs reacted to the stress of the situation by burning a bit, as if he were suffocating. He wasn't, not even close, but the instinct to breathe deeply before action was strong.

At last the man moved, slithering around the corner like a snake. Lee buried himself in the darkness, waiting a moment longer, until the man had completely entered the opening before he struck. Wrapping an arm around the man's throat, he squeezed until the lack of oxygen caused his victim to sag, a dead weight against his grip. Gently, he eased the man to the floor. Freeing the victim's belt from its belt loops, he tied the man's hands behind his back, and pulled him down the tunnel and into a dark room, where he wouldn't be found too easily. Then he eased back down the hall and listened hard.

Kristopolous wasn't talking now. Lee slid down the wall to the floor, and risked a quick look around the corner. The Greek was big; he easily dwarfed poor Dr. Ramirez. In fact, Lee almost missed the smaller man, half-hidden by his captor. No one else was in sight, but as Lee pondered the situation, he saw a hint of movement across the corridor, just inside the dark opening into which Chip had vanished a few minutes before. Turning his head to capture the movement, he saw the XO lurking just out of sight. Chip held up one finger, and Lee echoed him. Both of the men who'd gone looking for them were subdued. That left only Kristopolous.

But Chip wasn't done yet. He rummaged in a pocket and produced a coin that gleamed silver in the shadows. He showed it to Lee, then jerked his thumb back behind him into the darkness. What did that mean? More money...?

Lee drew his breath in sharply as his eyes widened. Treasure of some sort? What had Chip found? He risked a glance at Kristopolous again. The Greek was looking the other way, but Dr. Ramirez turned his head and looked straight into Lee's face. The archaeologist's eyes widened, then he drew back from the Greek, making Kristopolous turn his back on Lee. Seizing the chance, the captain darted across the corridor, into the tunnel where Chip lurked.

"Are you crazy?" Chip frowned at him, but didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he turned away immediately, beckoning Lee to follow him. They didn't speak for several seconds, but Lee could feel the path turning downward into the darkness. For a moment, the tons of stone above him seemed to be menacing, but he suppressed the thought, and followed Chip into a large, semi-lit room. The light was coming from an opening high up on the wall, sunlight that had somehow found its way into this dark place. They must be close to the water, because the roar of the waves was very loud here.

Lee skidded to a stop before he bumped into Chip, who had halted suddenly. Almost every inch of the space before them was covered with heaps of valuables: bronze statues, a few marble carvings, gold and silver coins, jewelry, chalices... Lee stared at it open-mouthed, then glanced at Chip.

"I think I might know what they're after," the XO said softly, his voice a bare whisper above the roar of the waves.

"Hell, I think we both know what they're after..." Lee stared at the stash in awe. Where had it all come from?

Chip shook his head. "There won't be anything like this on that wreck we're diving." He couldn't resist crouching down and running his hand across the smooth, bronze cheek of an Aphrodite that lay close to his feet. "Kristopolous was spouting something about Greek fire."

Lee closed his eyes, trying to swallow his frustration. "It was Greek to me, all right."

Chip smiled at the pun, that rare, wide, mischievous smile that so charmed anyone lucky enough to see it. Lee thought – not for the first time – that his friend had gotten a very raw deal, growing up; his father's constant ridicule had effectively driven that smile, and its accompanying sense of humor and mischievous personality deep underground, hidden from anyone who didn't work very hard to flush it out. "You need to brush up on your Greek, obviously." The smile died all too quickly. "Greek fire, Lee. An incendiary weapon, much like naphtha, that the Byzantines used to great effect. It was said to set the sea on fire, but of course, that only means it burned while floating on the water…"

He paused, and Lee seized the moment. "But our wreck is much older than Byzantine times… Circa 400 BCE, isn't it?" He knew he was right; he'd brushed up on the history of that wreck, so that he could be a help to Dr. Ramirez on the dives… But the dives had been mind-numbingly boring, and he'd ended up simply listening to Dr. Ramirez prose on about how exciting the find was… Apparently it really was exciting, but for far different reasons… "And this ship is no warship."

Chip nodded agreement. "A trading vessel, only. But these people seem to think that it was carrying the formula for Greek fire…" He shook his head, clearly perplexed. "It's far too early, though… Ancient Greek sources don't mention anything like Greek fire… Flamethrowers, yes… Greek fire, no."

Lee pounced on the earlier statement. "The formula for Greek fire? Doesn't that include pine resin and sulfur, and…" He frowned and snapped his fingers, jogging his own memory. "Calcium phosphate, isn't that it?"

Chip's fingers lingered on the curve of Aphrodite's brazen cheek, like a lover's caress, but he clearly wasn't thinking about the goddess of love. "No. It's one possibility among others. One even involves naphtha and quicklime…" He pulled his hand away from the bronze statue and rose to his feet. "But the true, ancient formula for Greek fire has never been discovered…"

"Which would make it worth something…" Lee understood that only too well. Whatever chemicals went into the making of Greek fire, it had one advantage that most ancient weapons didn't have. It could be delivered quickly, and it would burn hot and long, consuming anything unlucky to come into contact with it. Chemical fires were notoriously hard to put out… The true formula for Greek fire could be very valuable indeed. "But why on our wreck? It's too early, and the ship is a trading vessel…"

"They don't strike me as scholars, Lee. They may not know that."

Lee nodded. Trust Chip to come up with a logical explanation; probably the only one that made much sense. But if this Kristopolous wasn't bright enough to know the wreck wasn't likely to be carrying anything to do with Greek fire, someone had to have told him it did… Why? And why their wreck? "There must be something…"

Chip moved forward into the room, carefully stepping over and around the antiquities that littered the floor. Here and there, he paused to gently touch something that caught his fancy, but he clearly wasn't thinking about the wealth that lay scattered around him. "Nothing these hoodlums would want… or kill for… Unless…" He trailed into silence, thinking, but there was no way Lee could leave it at that.

"Unless what? Come on, buddy, what gives?" He drifted toward the corridor, keeping alert, listening for the sounds of footsteps above the roar of the waves.

"Unless it were returning from the trading mission, rather than just setting out…" Chip knelt by a pool of silver coins, studying them analytically. "Dr. Ramirez based his report on his own observations, and ancient records that seemed to tell of a ship that went down in a storm just after setting out… But maybe our wreck isn't that ship." He paused as Lee turned to look at him. "Maybe we have a completely unknown shipwreck… Maybe we've underestimated the type of cargo it might have aboard because we are linking our wreck to records that don't talk about this ship at all."

Lee considered the theory with a frown. If their wreck was not the one that Dr. Ramirez thought he'd discovered in the records – always an iffy thing when relying on spotty records from ancient times – then they had no idea what might be on it. All bets were off. "That's a scary prospect."

"Even if the secret of Greek fire were on that ship, which is doubtful, these people wouldn't be interested in it." Chip rose and moved cautiously back toward Lee. "A leopard doesn't change its spots. They don't want information, they want tangible wealth. So they are almost certainly recovering information for someone else, and helping themselves to whatever they find on the wreck as payment."

Lee contemplated that; whoever wanted the formula for Greek fire apparently didn't have a good grasp of ancient history. "Even so, the ship is still too early to have anything about Greek fire aboard… Whoever our information seeker is, he's not a history buff…"

Chip frowned. "Unusual… Most people who are into stealing antiquities actually know quite a bit about them. They are not people likely to make that mistake…"

"Arms dealers might make that mistake." Lee drew a breath in. "Suppose for a moment, that our thieves were hired because they knew antiquities. Someone wanted a new weapon, one that would garner big bucks on the black market…"

"And our villains convinced this someone that they could give him something that would fit the bill, if he gave them the money and the equipment to dive this ancient wreck…" Chip eased into the corridor leading back up to the main tunnel, but he didn't move along it, waiting for Lee.

The captain smiled in the darkness, a smile that he knew would terrify anyone who saw it; he had slipped from captain of the Seaview into ONI mode. They had a man to extract, and murderers to bring to justice. "They never intended to deliver the goods. They're well aware it can't be found on a ship this early…"

"They'll fob their arms dealer off with some modern-day formula that won't do him any good, get what they want off the wreck, and vanish for awhile until the furor blows over." Chip shook his head at the stupidity of it. "Are they really that dumb?"

Lee shrugged. "Depends on which arms dealer they're dealing with. Maybe. I'd even say probably. They haven't exactly been too smart about dealing with intruders in the tunnels, have they?" He lifted a finger to his lips and got a nod from his friend. They moved like ghosts back up the tunnel, listening for any sound that could tell them what was happening in the main tunnel, where Kristopolous waited…


	5. Chapter 5

Dr. Ramirez fought hard to keep his surprise out of his face, and backed away from this Kristopolous creep. Captain Crane was right behind the man, peering around the bottom of a rock opening that probably led into another tunnel. What was he doing, sitting on the floor? Dr. Ramirez couldn't let the kidnapper see him. So he backed away a little farther, catching Kristopolous' attention at last…

The result was quite as bad as he'd expected. The Greek hit him again, snapping his head to the left. So not fun… But as Dr. Ramirez recovered, he saw the captain dart across the tunnel into another, very dark opening on the other side. He thought he heard the murmur of voices, but it was gone too quickly. He couldn't be sure, but it wasn't impossible. If Captain Crane was here, young Mr. Morton would be around, too. Rescue might be closer than he thought. So no matter the punishment, he needed to keep Kristopolous occupied, so he didn't notice that there were two loose cannons roaming around.

"What do you people want?" He already knew the answer to that, but it was best if they didn't know he spoke Greek. "There is nothing of value on that ship. It went down centuries ago! A millennia ago! You won't find anything on it except history!" In a sense he felt quite as aggrieved as he sounded. These people had no business stealing from his shipwreck.

Besides, no matter what might be on that ship, the formula for Greek fire absolutely wouldn't be. That had to be a red herring… But if so, why did this big bully start talking in Greek about it? A language he probably thought Dr. Ramirez didn't speak… Although, it would seem a bit weird that Dr. Ramirez was diving an ancient Greek shipwreck, yet didn't speak Greek. Which would seem to indicate that this Kristopolous guy knew that Dr. Ramirez spoke Greek…

The archaeologist shivered a little, wondering just how much these people knew about him. He should never have left Seaview this morning. If he'd had any idea what was going to happen, he'd never have gotten out of his bunk…

"What's the matter, doc? Scared?" Kristopolous' deep voice held a hint of laughter. "You know very well what we're supposed to be after. And you know it doesn't exist. Which is good for us. We get to strip the wreck of everything of value, and we don't have to turn over anything, because the formula isn't there." He raised his voice. "Hear that, Captain Crane?"

Well, scared, yes… But increasingly Doctor Ramirez was frustrated. And desperately determined to protect his possible rescue team. Both emotions erupted into exasperated speech. "Oh, for God's sake! Are you persisting in this fantasy? Captain Crane is not here! He doesn't even like history! Why would he be here?"

Kristopolous laughed out loud. "He came here with another officer for a tour. We know he is here, because he didn't leave with the ferry. So they are both here somewhere, doctor. Do you think they are going to rescue you?" His laugh died and he turned grim, gripping the archaeologist's shirt and slamming him up against the stone wall of the tunnel. "There will be no rescue. You will guide us to the ship, and then…" He grimaced, as if he were trying to smile and not quite making it. "You will become another statistic. Sad, isn't it?"

Sad? Try terrifying! Dr. Ramirez felt himself wilt, and inwardly chastised his cowardice. This was unacceptable. There were two brave men out there who would try to help him. But if they were going to be successful, he would have to help himself somewhat. He would have to keep Kristopolous' attention on him. "There is nothing on that ship that anyone like you could want." He put as much contempt into the words as he could, but contempt didn't seem to faze this villain.

Instead, Kristopolous almost seemed to derive enjoyment from the words. "You have no idea what you have, do you? You think you've found something that is valueless except to people like you. Archaeologists who only want information and aren't interested at all in valuables." That was definitely contempt… Strong and malicious, underscored by potent sarcasm.

Dr. Ramirez frowned. Few things in life made him as angry as perceived discrimination. He knew he was probably overreacting, but he couldn't help shifting into another gear. "You have a problem with people like me, Mr. Kristopolous? Maybe you think we don't deserve the respect we get?" He came away from the wall, pushing the man with his body. "Maybe you think you're smarter than I am, that you know things I don't know? Maybe you think you're better than me?"

As he spoke, more aggressive than he had dreamed of being, he saw a flicker of movement across his peripheral vision. Desperate not to alert the villain he was chastising, he slipped back toward the middle of the tunnel, turning Kristopolous away from the officer he could now see darting across the tunnel behind the Greek's shoulder: Mr. Morton, this time, taking chances he probably shouldn't be taking. The XO slipped into the opening Captain Crane had left earlier, pausing just long enough to give Dr. Ramirez a thumbs up. Wonderful…

Kristopolous leaned closer, looming over his captive, extremely intimidating, forcing Dr. Ramirez to back a little further away. The kidnapper was definitely angry, and the archaeologist thought that probably wasn't good. "ιδιοτροπία! You are nothing! You don't even know what ship you are excavating! You are an idiot!"

_Maggot…_ Dr. Ramirez seethed quietly, afraid to let his rage loose. He'd just been called a maggot by a… a thief! "I know that you are a thief and a liar! There is nothing on that ship! I can personally guarantee it!"

Kristopolous backhanded him, hard enough to knock him to the ground. "There are millions in antiquities on that ship! You think you have _Θαλασσοπούλια, _but you don't. You think she sank almost as she left port, but she was coming back, you fool!"

"And you know this how?" Mr. Morton appeared behind Kristopolous, with a pleasant smile, and a hand gun, cocked and aimed. "Because our shipwreck actually fits _Θαλασσοπούλια's _profile." He pronounced the name perfectly, his Greek accent unimpeachable. Dr. Ramirez struggled to his knees, only to feel a hand under his elbow helping him up.

"I hope you're okay, Dr. Ramirez. The admiral would definitely have words with us, if you were injured." Captain Crane's voice. A knife sawed through the ropes that bound him.

Kristopolous snarled. "You don't know what you're dealing with here, Captain. But I thank you for delivering yourself to us, so neatly. Your companion is superfluous, of course…" He flung himself backward, his muscled bulk a formidable weapon, but Mr. Morton was too agile, dodging aside easily, and watching the man crash to the floor.

"Superfluous? I hope you don't think I'm superfluous, Lee." The XO looked down at the fallen enemy and shook his head.

"Never, partner." Captain Crane moved in front of Dr. Ramirez, and produced his own handgun. "You want to tie him up?"

Mr. Morton grimaced and shrugged. "Well, someone's got to do it, I guess." He stowed the gun away at his back neatly, then crouched down and began to work the man's belt loose.

Kristopolous rocked upward, hands outstretched, but Mr. Morton touched his chest with what seemed a light touch, but clearly was enough to knock the thief back hard. "Nice try." The young officer pulled the belt free, then rolled Kristopolous over and cinched his hands together behind his back. Rising to his feet with an ease that Dr. Ramirez envied, he smiled at the archaeologist. "Are you okay, sir?"

Dr. Ramirez peered over Captain Crane's shoulder at the XO, stunned at the jagged wound that marred the younger man's face. "My God, what happened to you?" He drew in a deep breath and strove for calm. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." The words came out on a little quaver that he was ashamed of, but was unable to control. "There are no words…"

Captain Crane laid a hand on his shoulder. "This is what we do, Dr. Ramirez. There's no need to thank us." He glanced at Mr. Morton., and smiled mischievously."He's fine. Just got hit with a giant chunk of marble. But he's got a hard head. It didn't do any real damage."

"Gee, thanks, Lee." Mr. Morton rolled his eyes, somewhat disrespectfully and rose to his feet. "What now, fearless leader?"

Captain Crane looked at Dr. Ramirez, and the archaeologist felt as if he were being judged... and probably found wanting. "The caves, I think. Suggestions?"

"Might be a few more hanging around down there… But it's worth a shot. Unless you want to backtrack…" Mr. Morton moved toward them, agreeing with the captain's assessment, clearly. Dr. Ramirez felt a bit out of his league; probably a good thing that no one was asking him for suggestions...

"Not interested in heading back up top." Captain Crane shook his head. "The ferry service is involved. I tied up the ferry captain back that way. Someone might be looking for him. We'll take our chances with the cave entrance."

Mr. Morton sighed and drew his gun again. "Well, just remember, you promised not to let them kill me."

Captain Crane laughed and clapped his XO on the back. "Yeah, but that was before you became superfluous, buddy."

Weird sense of humor… Dr. Ramirez shook his head and followed these two madmen down the tunnel toward the cave entrance.


	6. Chapter 6

Admiral Nelson watched the elation as Dr. Ramirez showed off his find, not wanting to ruin the air of celebration. It truly was remarkable, the tiny gold idol perfect and complete, an Apollo that fit in the palm of Martin's hand. A rare find, it would definitely make all the newspapers in Greece, and the National Museum would be very pleased with it…

Oh, yes, they would be pleased. They could hardly find the words to thank Nelson for his team's discovery of the antiquities thieves that had been plaguing them for years. Each new site ravaged before the archaeologists had arrived, artifacts removed, possibly damaged… The finds in the caves on Sarpolis would provide fodder for the museum for months and probably years to come. And now the first delicate and beautiful recovery from their shipwreck would start the round of heartfelt gratitude all over again…

Only Nelson couldn't share in the elation… He managed a smile and a nod when Chip flashed that rare smile at him, clearly pleased with the discovery, although he would carefully efface his own part in it, leaving the glory to Dr. Ramirez… He didn't need any credit; the joy of the find was enough for him. Martin would make sure that he got what he deserved, but Chip didn't yet know that, and Nelson wasn't about to tell him… He was just glad that all of them had come home safely from the fiasco on Sarpolis…

The relief that had filled his soul when he'd seen his three missing men practically lounging on the rocks as the Zodiac pulled up to the caves had been almost overwhelming. Lee had been completely uninjured, trading quips with Chip, whose only injury appeared to be a jagged tear in his head, that wasn't even bleeding anymore. Will had taken one look and immediately started squawking; Chip had glared at him, but it hadn't done any good, and Lee had laughed and told his XO that such were the consequences of being hit with a gigantic chunk of marble. He had then told the doctor that Chip's head was too hard to take any real damage. But back on board Seaview, Will had stitched the wound, and declared the XO unfit for diving for awhile. None the worse for wear, Chip went back to work on the wreck a little over a week later, carefully following every one of Will's instructions…

But there were far more important things to tell both Lee and Chip. Kristopolous had been found dead in his cell last night, and they still had no idea who he had been dealing with. Only that his misguided salvage operation had been funded by some unknown man, possibly an arms dealer, looking for a formula that wouldn't be found on this ship; probably not on any other in these waters, either. Whoever he was, that man would now be intent on revenge for the loss of his money and his formula, never mind that the formula likely didn't exist.

Kristopolous had refused to talk, though he'd been at least two weeks in captivity. Toward the end, he'd shown fear, anxiety, and a sort of hopeless stubbornness that had worried Nelson. As it turned out, he'd been right to be worried. Now the man was dead, killed under the noses of the Greek police, and Nelson had to tell Lee that the last coherent thing he'd said before death had claimed him had been a Greek letter… Gamma…

The one letter in the entire Greek alphabet that meant something to Nelson… Something terrible, something implacable… A man so evil that Nelson could only compare him to Adolf Hitler… Dr. Gamma, who had killed John, who had tried and tried to get Nelson's secrets and failed. Dr. Gamma, who might try once again… Not an arms dealer at all, but certainly a man who would find Greek fire an interesting commodity…

_ He's a piece of work, Harry… Smarter than your average bear… I wouldn't want to go up against him again…_

God… If Nelson could have saved John, could have prevented that one shot, he would have done so. Gamma had robbed him of his best friend; Gamma had attempted to start a nuclear war, to cover his desperate attempt to acquire Seaview… And Nelson was sure that Gamma was behind other attempts to gain access to Nelson's secrets. It had become something of a vendetta between them. Gamma's name alone was enough to fire up Nelson's anger.

But anger wouldn't help them now. If they were going to best Gamma, they all had to be at the top of their game, ready for anything… Lee would have to know everything, even the little secrets that Nelson had held close, not wanting to share John with anyone, now that he was dead, and his reputation vulnerable…

Chip, too, might have to know, and that was a much harder task. John had been the father that Alan Morton had never been. He had built a guarded, closed-up, and sometimes deeply suspicious young man into the confident young officer that graced Seaview today. His flaws had not been in evidence when dealing with Chip Morton… It would just about kill Nelson to have to reveal those flaws to a man who had practically worshipped John… and somehow convince that man that John still deserved his respect and admiration…

John's hands had not always been clean; he didn't like to use the ends to justify the means, but he knew as well as Nelson did that sometimes there was no other choice. He had been sunny, even-tempered, and sincere, but he was a far darker man than anyone but Nelson and Jiggs Stark had ever known. Lee would understand, and could probably even relate. He would know that ONI did that to a man. Chip was another story…

But Lee, at least, had to know; both of them had to be armored against Gamma, so that they in turn could armor Seaview. Oh, Nelson would do his part, but his command team would do the bulk of the work. And they would also carry the brunt of any repercussions. No matter how hard Nelson worked to protect them.

And there would be repercussions… Nelson was already busy at work on how to shield them from the fall out. Gamma was notorious for first removing anything and anyone his prey cared about before getting down to business and dealing with his enemy… Nelson cared about this boat, this crew, his friends, Will and Jiggs… And his command team: the men he had come to think of as his sons. That would surprise both of them if they knew, but for different reasons. Lee knew he was valued, and basked in that relationship, treating Nelson as a second father, but never ever presuming upon the bond between them. He would never expect Nelson to even admit that such a bond existed, and he would know that that admission would carry a certain amount of danger for them both.

Chip, on the other hand, felt distanced from Nelson. The admiral knew that was his own fault; he had pushed the young man away after John's death, because he couldn't bear to look at someone who reminded him so painfully of John… It was only recently that he had begun to rebuild the closeness between them, and he knew it would take time and effort; but he also knew that for all the distance between them, Chip trusted him like he trusted no one else alive, except possibly Lee… He would be completely aghast if Nelson told him just how valuable he was, utterly dismayed if he knew the admiral saw him as anything other than a superb XO. He, too, would understand the danger of that, because he knew – perhaps better than anyone but Nelson himself – what Gamma was capable of. He had been in the thick of it, before Lee had ever set foot on the boat.

He tried to bury his thoughts and paste a smile on his face as Martin Ramirez came toward him, offering him the tiny idol. "Look at it, Harry! It's perfect! We knew that Greek metal work was advanced, but this… I've never seen anything like it…" He trailed off, as if sensing Nelson's preoccupation.

The admiral widened his smile and took the Apollo from his marine archaeologist. There was no reason to spoil this celebration. There would be time enough to tell Lee about the problem they now had… When Lee was up to speed, they could decide together how much to tell Chip, and when to tell him. It wasn't the way Nelson wanted to work, but there were good reasons this time for keeping his XO in the dark… This wasn't the time or the place to start having arguments with Lee over that.

And Martin had earned this; he had been kidnapped, tied up, rescued… It certainly had been an eventful trip for him, and he'd weathered it all without complaint… His sure and outstanding work excavating the wreck had pleased the Greek government and would certainly earn him some fame in the scientific community. And the find was beautiful, down to the beautifully rendered head, eyes wide open, lips parted, hair forming almost a halo around the well-shaped head... Yes, it was a beautiful work of art, and deserved praise. "It's beautiful, Martin. The Greek government will be please. You have scored quite a coup, my friend."

There was a hint of relief behind Martin's wide smile and the sparkle in his eyes. "And we've only just begun! Who knows how much more might be down there? It could be the most exciting find of the year!"

Nelson handed the Apollo back. "I hope it is! I've certainly sunk a lot into it!" He grinned at the pun, caught Lee's eyes, and turned away. "Good work, Martin."

Good work… God, he hoped that good work wouldn't splash Gamma's vitriol on all of them.


End file.
